Abbas Picks Political Independent As New PM
Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas on Friday chose Salam Fayyad, a political independent who was former finance minister of the Hamas- led unity government, as new prime minister, replacing Ismail Haniyeh of Hamas.
“Fayyad has obtained collective approval from the Palestinian leadership and the Palestinian Liberation Organization (PLO),” Abbas’ media advisor Nabil Amr told the Dubai-based Al Arabiya satellite television.
Nabil Abu Rudaina, spokesman for the Palestinian presidency, told reporters in the West Bank city of Ramallah that preparations to choose the ministers were under way and an emergency Palestinian government under Fayyad was expected to be announced soon.
Fayyad was asked to set up the emergency government one day after Abbas dissolved the unity government between Hamas and Fatah, which took office on March 17.
Abbas dissolved the unity government and declared a state of emergency on the Palestinian territories after Hamas seized control of the Gaza Strip following days of deadly infighting between Hamas and Fatah led by Abbas.
Meanwhile, the deposed Prime Minister Haniyeh and his Hamas movement have rejected Abbas’ decision to sack the unity Palestinian government.
Hamas also slammed Palestinian President Abbas’ nomination of Fayyad as a “coup”.
“It is a coup against legitimacy and a transgression of all the laws,” said Hamas spokesman Sami Abu Zuhri.
At a news conference held after Friday prayers in Gaza, Haniyeh said that “any internal equation will not work without national understandings or respect of the electoral legitimacy”, which brought Hamas to power in early 2006.
Fayyad, born in 1952, is a US-educated economist who acquired his PhD in economics from the University of Texas at Austin. He was a former World Bank official and lived in the United States for about 20 years.
He served twice as finance minister of the Palestinian government. Besides being finance minister of the Hamas-Fatah unity government since March 17 this year, he was also finance minister under a Fatah-led government from November of 2003 to early 2006 before the Hamas-dominated government took office.
In early 2006, Fayyad ran as founder and leader of a new small political faction, called The Third Way, in the Palestinian legislative election.
Fayyad, who is reportedly having good relations with both US President George W. Bush and Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, is seen as pro-Western.
Agencies – Xinhua
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